‘SPRING AHEAD’

With deep-freeze temperatures forecast for this weekend, there’s cruel irony in the advent of daylight saving time Sunday. Changing the clocks is meant to be a harbinger of spring, which, on the calendar at least, is little over a week away (it starts March 20). Despite the lovely thaws of recent weeks, it sure does not yet feel like tulips and daffodils are around the corner, much less velvety humid evenings spent on a terrasse or balcony, waiting for a gentle breeze.

If daylight saving time seems to start earlier in the year than it used to, that’s because it does. Until a decade ago, it began in April. So it really was more in step with spring. And in those days, it ended in October, instead of November, as it does now.

Of course, daylight saving is a misnomer. There will still be pretty much the same amount of daylight on Sunday as on Saturday; it’s just that both sunrise and sundown will be later.

All of a sudden, many of us will be starting our day in darkness once again, the payoff being longer hours of light in the evening.

Of course, this is a mixed blessing, not least for parents. The time shift makes it easier for children to play sports outdoors in the evenings — once it warms up — but can make putting younger ones into bed more difficult.

Many farmers have long resisted daylight time; it confuses the cows, and has other practical drawbacks. That’s probably why Saskatchewan remains the only province to steadfastly refuse to change its clocks, although there are pockets of some other provinces that, for various reasons, also abstain, for example, the easternmost part of Quebec’s North Shore.

Looking on the bright side (so to speak), the changeovers to daylight time in the spring, and back to standard time in the fall, are, in at least one way, easier than in the past. These days, many of the clocks in our various devices are programmed to change automatically.

Those who wear an analog wristwatch, or depend on clocks that need to be re-set manually, will still need to re-set them.

But which way? Every time change, there are some unfortunate souls who don’t quite get the memo, and re-set clocks in the wrong direction. And then there are those who overlook the time change entirely, an omission in spring that will result in tardiness.

Remembering the old saying “spring ahead, fall back” is helpful.

And “spring ahead” does sound so much peppier than “you’ve got one hour less of sleep.”